I have a question about my two year old ferret, Merlin.  His wrestling
match at 1 am last night got out of hand.
 
After separating the ferrets, I noticed blood on one ear.  I cleaned the
ear with a damp paper towel.  There was not much blood, but a lot of brown
discharge.  (looked like earwax, but it wasn't there before the fight)
Once clean, the ear looked fine and I put him to bed.
 
When I got back from work, however, there was more discharge (dried blood,
the brown stuff, and a little clear fluid).  The ear was also a little
swollen.  I became concerned that there might be injury to the inner ear,
or a punctured ear drum or something like that.  My regular vet office
was closed, so I took him to another clinic that often treats ferrets.
 
The vet looked at the ear briefly.  I asked what the brown fluid would be
and he insisted it was dried blood and not a concern.  He prescribed an
oral antibiotic, Clavamox and said the swelling was probably the start of
an infection.
 
I guess I'm posting because my concerns are not yet relieved.  I expected
him to clean the ear and look inside with an ear scope; and I expected him
to comment on the fact that Merlin's right ear is not normally formed.  I
have no idea how serious an injury to the eardrum would be anyway, so I'm
left worried about pain and deafness.
 
Do I just watch too much Emergency Vets and come down hard on this guy for
not acting like them?  I don't know if I should bring him to his normal
vet tomorrow or not.  I'd feel really stupid if I took off work, made an
urgent appointment, and paid another vet bill to have her say the exact
same thing.  But I'd also feel a lot better if someone would just look
inside there and tell me he's fine!
 
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Sorry for the
long post.
[Posted in FML issue 3840]